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Trends in Publishing for 2011

JWT has a interesting Slideshare presentation called 100 Things to Watch in 2011. There are a number of their points that could relate back to the world of business book publishing.

#14 – Breaking the Book: This is the most important publishing idea in the deck, and I am not sure we have even seen how this will play out. Ebooks are already change our value perception of how much we will play for the written word. Chapters are already being sold like tracks on an album. Expect more atomization to satisfy all the types of interest under the demand curve.

#18 – Children's E-books: This is interesting but I haven't seen the killer app here yet. I have young children, we have tried a number of these and it feels like we in publishing can do better than simply adding some touch activated animation.

#30 – E-book Sharing: I don't buy that this is something to be excited about. I don't even think you can call it sharing given the constraints of time and device.

#47 – Long-Form Content: 100% with this one. Longreads is my one of my favorite sites right now.

#62 – Objectifying Objects: Books, magazines, and newspapers still matter in many contexts.

#75 – Scanning Everything: I believe people want to stay in the media form they are consuming. When newspapers asking people to crossover to the web doesn't work well. I am wondering out loud if QR codes and smartphones are the right combo to make a better connection. Nick Bilton experimented with that in his book this year, but the extras weren't super great.

#83 – Social Objects: This plays to the idea that books should be more than just the words written. Where was the book read? Who has already owned this copy? What made them give it up? What did they think of it and what else was going on in their lives when it spent time with them? How often did they pick it up to read it? Notice these are all ideas beyond the data that the Kindle can capture from our reading pattern. These all have to do with the book as a physical object and the greater context for how it fit into our lives.

#93 – Transmedia Producers: This is another opportunity for business books authors. How do you make the book a point along a greater story arc?